Category: 3-EconSometimeCommentary

In this episode from 2013, we look at whether spite pays — and if it even exists.

The post What Do Medieval Nuns and Bo Jackson Have in Common? (Update) appeared first on Freakonomics.

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On this episode, Nathan Goodman chats with economist Ben Powell about common myths surrounding mass immigration, including fears of job loss, wage suppression, and fiscal burdens. Drawing from his book, Wretched Refuse?: The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions, Powell presents cross-country evidence showing that immigration does not undermine culture, institutions, or productivity. Instead, it often correlates with improvements in economic freedom and institutional quality. He also highlights the importance of focusing on targeted policy solutions rather than broad restrictions.

Dr. Benjamin Powell is the Executive Director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University, a Professor of Economics in the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University, and a Senior Fellow with the Independent Institute. He is the Secretary-Treasurer of both the Southern Economic Association and the Association of Private Enterprise Education and the Treasurer of the Mont Pelerin Society.

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Virtual Sentiments, a podcast series from the Hayek Program, is streaming. Subscribe today and listen to season three, releasing now!

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Americans take more than 20 billion elevator rides every year — and keeping them safe is an expensive proposition. Zachary Crockett makes small talk.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Frank Christensen, president of the International Union of Elevators Constructors.
  • Shannon Moore, service mechanic for the International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 8.
  • Brian O'Connell, senior vice president of the Eastern U.S. at Otis Elevators.
  • Stephen Smith, executive director of the Center for Building in North America.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "Elevators," by Stephen Smith (Center for Building in North America, 2024).
  • "Elevator and Escalator Fact Sheet," (National Elevator Industry, 2020).
  • "The Evolution of Elevators: Physical-Human Interface, Digital Interaction, and Megatall Buildings," by Stephen Nichols (Frontiers of Engineering, 2017).
  • Lifted: A Cultural History of the Elevator, by Andreas Bernard (2014).

 

• EXTRAS:
  • "Up and Then Down," by Nick Paumgarten (The New Yorker, 2008).
  • "World's Tallest Towers."

The U.S. has been policing bribery all over the world for nearly half a century using a law called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. But now, President Trump has said that this anti-corruption law is crippling American businesses. Since taking office, his administration has reduced the number of investigators, killed some cases, and changed the rules.

In this episode, we look at the FCPA case against Glencore, a large commodity trading company, found guilty in 2022 for paying cash bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts all over the world.

And we go back to the inception of the law, a time when using bribes to pay off foreign officials was considered "grease in the wheels" - a reasonable (if unethical) way to get business done.

This episode was hosted by Amanda Aronczyk and Erika Beras. It was produced by Willa Rubin. It was fact-checked by Emily Crawford with help from Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was engineered by James Willetts. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

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The simplicity of life back then is appealing today, as long as you don’t mind Church hegemony, the occasional plague, trial by gossip — and the lack of ibuprofen. (Part two of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)

The post What It’s Like to Be Middle-Aged (in the Middle Ages) appeared first on Freakonomics.

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Note: A version of this episode first ran in 2023.

Every year, the U.S. government spends more money than it takes in. In order to fund all that spending, the country takes on debt. Congress has the power to limit how much debt the U.S. takes on. Once we reach that limit, Congress has a few options so that the government keeps paying its bills: Raise the debt limit, suspend it, or eliminate it entirely.

Which is daunting, because if lawmakers don't figure something out in time, the ramifications for the global economy could be huge.

Shai Akabas, of the Bipartisan Policy Center, has become something of the go-to expert in calculating the exact date America would hit the wall and not be able to pay all its debts. This day is so terrifying it has a special name, the X-Date.

Today's episode is about how Akabas and Jay Powell — long before he became chair of the Federal Reserve — worked to create a system to determine the X-Date with the hope of helping us all never reach it.

We also have an update on this year's looming X-Date, which could arrive as soon as this summer.

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Districts across the country are facing shortages of school bus drivers. Can technology help? Zachary Crockett takes a seat in the back.

 

• SOURCES:
  • Keith Corso, co-founder and CEO of BusRight.
  • Marc Medina, transportation supervisor for the Farmingdale School District in Long Island.
  • Jada Melendez, school bus driver in Burlington County, New Jersey.

 

• RESOURCES:
  • "How St. Louis parents are dealing with school bus driver shortages," by Gabrielle Hays (PBS, 2024).
  • "The school bus driver shortage remains severe," by Sebastian Martinez Hickey and David Cooper (Economic Policy Institute, 2023).
  • "‘End of the Line’: School Bus Industry in Crisis Because of the Coronavirus," by Pranshu Verma (New York Times, 2020).

 

What was it like to work inside Elon Musk's DOGE? The cost-cutting initiative promised transparency, but most of its actions have been shrouded in secrecy.

For months, there were reports of software engineers and Trump loyalists entering agencies and accessing sensitive data. DOGE also helped the Trump administration lay off thousands of government workers. NPR reporters have been trying for months to get anyone from DOGE to talk on the record. Now, Sahil Lavingia, a former DOGE staffer assigned to the Department of Veteran Affairs, is speaking.

Today, what drew Sahil to DOGE and what he learned about the inner workings, in a way we've never heard before.

For more on DOGE and the federal workforce:
- The last time we shrank the federal workforce
- Can... we still trust the monthly jobs report?
- Can the Federal Reserve stay independent?

This episode was hosted by Kenny Malone and Bobby Allyn. It was produced by Sam Yellowhorse Kesler and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Jess Jiang and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. It was engineered by Neal Rauch. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.

Find more Planet Money: Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

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For decades, the great fear was overpopulation. Now it’s the opposite. How did this happen — and what’s being done about it? (Part one of a three-part series, “Cradle to Grave.”)

The post Why Aren’t We Having More Babies? appeared first on Freakonomics.

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When President Trump announced his sweeping new tariffs this year, many trade law experts were startled. Typically, presidents don't have the authority to impose broad tariffs with a snap of their fingers.

But Trump's advisors have an unusual new legal theory. They say that as long as there's a national emergency of some kind, Trump may be able to create whatever tariffs he wants. This is a creative interpretation of a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. To justify his latest tariffs, the president declared national emergencies involving illegal immigration, the fentanyl crisis, and the trade deficit.

But no president has ever tried to use the law in this way.

Now, the fate of Trump's tariffs — and the creative legal theory behind them — lies with the courts. About a dozen lawsuits have challenged his tariffs, claiming that they are unlawful and possibly even unconstitutional. And some judges have started to agree.

On today's show: What are the President's powers when it comes to tariffs? Where do they come from? What are their limits? And, what will be the fate of Trump's tariffs?

For more on Trump's tariffs:
- The 145% tariff already did its damage
- Do trade deficits matter?
- What "Made in China" actually means

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